Review: First Stage's GO DOG GO! is a Musical Must for Little Pups

Bring your best “bark!” down to the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC) for First Stage’s production of Go Dog Go! / Ve Perro ¡Ve! This delightful 60-minute, no-intermission musical romp – geared toward ages 3 and up – sure gets little tails wagging. Good news for grown-ups: you’ll get a kick out of it too. 

Under the direction of Michelle LoRicco and music director Jessica Marks, this bilingual staging of the P.D. Eastman book (adapted by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz with music by Michel Koerner) is a faithful retelling. Simple phrases like “big dog, little dog” and “a red dog on a blue tree” and “dogs going around in cars” are brought to life in a series of comical vignettes. 

The basic sentence structure of the book is perfect for building toddler vocabulary: up and down, over and under, in and out. The play translates the book’s silly scenarios and lessons in prepositions into clown-like choreography (Samantha D. Montgomery) and a charming, scat-y score (composed by Michael Koerner, translated by Ana Maria Campoy, arranged by Roberston Witmer). 

We see dogs at work, dogs under water, dogs in a boat, dogs in cars, dogs at a party, dogs on roller skates. The MC Dog, Sarah Zapiain, is a pitch-perfect leader of the young performer pack. Everything the dogs do and say is stated in both English and Spanish. The movement, action, and costuming is itself a third language – Go Dog Go! / Ve Perro ¡Ve! as much about visual storytelling as it is a vocab lesson.

Sets, costumes, lighting, and sound (Pat LoRicco, Michelle Verbos, Marion Frank, and Martilla Marechal, respectively) converge for a show that’s a treat to experience. Whimsical, larger-than-life props, a jumbo stoplight that goes from red to green to pink, a race track for zooming around – all in the black box that is the MYAC Goodman Mainstage Hall. This is my favorite kind of production for kids: a highly playful one with lots of tangible, eye-popping visuals. Inventive and imaginative – putting the "wow" in "bow wow!" 

(L to R) Sarah Zapiain, Valentina Vega, Savannah Carlson, Mia Raines, John Sajdak, and Charlie Machata in Go Dog Go! / Ve Perro ¡Ve!. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

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